Student’s art earns national honors

Citizen Staff Reports 10/01/12

Douglas Freeman High School tenth-grader Anna Laughter (pictured) recently learned that a drawing she completed last year will be placed on display at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach Nov. 16 through Dec. 30.

The recognition, part of The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers’ “Art. Write. Now. Tour 12-13,” is the latest for Laughter’s work, which earlier had earned three other honors.

The piece also earned a Gold Key Regional Award as part of The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program and was displayed in February and March at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Later, the piece was named a Gold Medal winner at the national level and also was selected as a Best In Grade (BIG) award recipient – one of only two pieces nationally submitted by ninth-graders (from among 7,123 such works) to earn the award. It was featured on display in New York City in June along with other Gold Medal award-winners, and Laughter also earned a $500 scholarship.

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The READ Center is a top-200 cause finalist in State Farm’s Neighborhood Assist program, making it eligible to earn a $25,000 grant to support adult literacy in the Richmond region. The 40 organizations from across the nation with the most votes will win grants.

The READ Center, based in Henrico, provides classroom instruction and one-to-one tutoring to adults with very low literacy. > Read more.

The host Glen Allen 14-year-old all-star baseball team won two of its first three games in pool play at the 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, which is it hosting at RF&P Stadium in Glen Allen. The team beat the Midwest Plains champions, 9-4, in its first game Aug. 10, then topped the Southwest champions, 7-3, Aug. 11 before dropping a 5-4 result to the Ohio Valley champions. > Read more.